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I'm finding a very annoying issue that is plaguing my drawings. For no apparent reason, lines disappear from the drawing even though I know they are there and connect two shapes. When I move one of the shapes, the connecting line reappears. Just saving the document makes no difference. Any thoughts?

Do add your vote for giving some attention to this bug through Help > Send feedback ...

My understanding is that with all the i-This and i-That work (the clouds, toys, etc), OmniGraffle's display and auto-arrange bugs are unlikely to get much attention before another version is planned ...

No, it's one of those rather fundamental bugs in OG5 which affect whether or not you can actually see your data (and whether or not you can believe what you see) on which inaction is defended by pious reference to the sanctity of majoritarian hegemony :-)

[Note, I have retracted some of this in response to Bill's post, further below; but I have left this post unchanged, in order to avoid destroying the context of the thread.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobTrew

No, it's one of those rather fundamental bugs in OG5 which affect whether or not you can actually see your data (and whether or not you can believe what you see) on which inaction is defended by pious reference to the sanctity of majoritarian hegemony :-)

( 'not enough votes' )

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Should one really pause to light incense, ring a bell and count votes when software is crashing ? Or when it's losing data ? Or when data can't be fully seen or believed ?

Come on, mate.

You are clearly intelligent, and certainly contribute items of value, and you pick up and report issues. I heartily support that.

But you turn into something else if you do not get your way, and immediately. All that emotional ranting is not necessary. Please keep it technical (it is a technical forum). Report the bug via the formal process, describe it here if you need to, and leave it at that. Whether it is big or small, or whether Omni should fix it now or in the next major or minor release is subject to opinion, and on the Omni side, subject to issues which we (you, I, all of customers), have no control over. Therefore I suggest you do not waste your time trying to control the uncontrollable, or influencing others to do so.

My experience with Omni is, they fix bugs, period. Invisible lines such as this, are definitely a bug. In my experience (seven years, many versions) with Omni, bug fixes are not subject to votes. There is no bug that I have encountered, that is still outstanding; they are usually fixed in the next minor release.

Now there are some bugs which very few people will encounter, such as your AppleScript integration bug. I do not have a problem that such bugs are subject to votes. Further, if you are correct, that it is an architectural or design issue (and I am not convinced that it is), then it cannot be reasonably expected to be fixed in a minor release, only in a major release.

Personally, I think the iPad is a joke right now, but everyone and his dog is writing an app for it, or in the Omni case, downgrading an existing app for it. Point being that, yes, resources have apparently been channelled elsewhere, and therefore the Mac apps are now less resourced than they used to be. That should not damage the confidence that we have, that Omni fixes bugs, period; it just may be a little slower than they did in the past.

So let's get back to Earth, and place our feet firmly on the ground.

There is no "crash" or crash here. No, the app is definitely working, and continues to operate.

There is no data loss here

Whether you believe what you see depends on how well you know you diagram (is there a line there or not). Evidently (from their posts), the other posters have no problem with this. The notion of believing what you see, in total isolation from all other information that you are aware of, is not reasonable. And if anyone is in that category, they really should not be using a computer or software, as they will be greatly disappointed at every turn. Given your demonstrated capability, which is another category, if you jump into that category, you will damage your own credibility.

I am sure Omni is collecting information about exactly what instances those are, from the formal bug reports

I certainly have not found it (if I did, I would have reported it exactly). But then, I am experienced user, and I approach the task of drawing with a structure; template; rulers; grids; standards; etc, which is a bit different to how newbies approach the task. Point being, there are many occs of weird behaviour and bugs that I simply never encounter, because I do not try unreasonable actions; and there may be some value in understanding that distinction.

I am using OG Pro, no one has stated it yet, but this bug may well be a non-Pro only bug. (No implication that you should get Pro.)

More specific information, re the exact circumstances, would be informative.

Making the bug out to be something that it is not, is confusing, and a disservice to the community. I am sure that that is not your intent, but that is the clear result. Note that a lot of new users trawl this forum. If we stick to the precise, accurate technical information, we will avoid both the drama and the misinformation.

We really do not need a misinforming hegemony. It is about dealing with issues regarding a software product, not a struggle for subjugating nations that resist invasion.

Taking a deep breath, and getting some perspective may indeed help

Appreciating what is within your control, and what is not, may provide some peace of mind.

The act of ringing bells, lighting incense, or smoking herbal concoctions; in fact, any act that is not identified in the manual, will not affect the bug, its behaviour, or the fixing of it

If there is anything incorrect in my understanding of:

straight bugs that are not subject to votes,

rare bugs that are subject to votes (due to the feature in which the bug is encountered being rarely used), and

Me and a lot of my students have the same problem. What's up with that? Any bug fix coming up?

It seems to be happening often when you use 2 connecting lines.

That are different.

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Has anyone come up with a temporary workaround?

Sure. I do not consider this a workaround to the bug (but you might). From what I see, and thanks for posting an example, you are making basic mistakes in the act of drawing a flowchart (nothing to do with OG), and then your students are picking up and using the same incorrect conventions, so they replicate the bugs you have encountered.

The End of the offending line is connected to another line; that is incorrect; the line should be connected to an object, such as the central Decision object; not to a line that happens to also be connected to the Decision object.

Not doing so will result in various errors, which will show up when you rearrange the objects on the page. OG is much easier to use than that. Do not start with orthogonal lines, you will forever be moving the midpoints around. Start with straight lines, get the Flowchart (the real work) complete, which means move the objects around, and move the lines only with the midpoint handles. Once the diagram as a whole is stable, now make it pretty, and enhance the lines, add midpoints (line them up), change them to orthogonal, etc.

The F line coming out of the Decision object is also incorrect (Flowcharting error, not an OG issue): it should be connected to the Bracket object; not to a line that is connected to the Bracket object.

Would be interested to know what objects are to the right of the position, where the portion of the line is invisible.

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I have over 40 drawings that all have the same problem. Editing them is a nightmare!

I does not have to be, even with this bug.

I would suggest that all the lines of the same type in the Flowchart should be the same, and have the exact same characteristics (Stroke; Colour; connect to lines/objects; orthogonal/straight; single arrowhead; 60%; etc). Set the first line up; then simply copy-and-paste; then connect each end to the intended target objects.

You can also choose all the lines from the Canvas:Selection tool, and make changes to all of them, in a single action.